Method of packing flasks.



No. 840,070. PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907.

- V H. W. LENGFELDER.

METHOD OF PAGKINGFLASKS.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 28.1906.

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' 1 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY W. LENGFELDER, F BEQLEVIILLEVILLINOIS, lissienoa'ro .MITcHEL -P RKS MANUFACTURING (30., OF ST. LOU1S,.MIS'- SOUBI, -A, CORPORATION OF MISSOURI. v

METHOD OF PACKING FLASKS;

Specification of letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1,1607.

hpplioationfiled J 1n e28,1906- Seriallio, 323.947.

To all whom it -mwy concern.-

Be it. known that I, HENRY 'W. LENGFEL:

ban, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bellevil le, in the county of St. Clair and Stateof Illinois, have invented new and use- .ful Improvements in Methods of Packing Flasks, of which the following is a specificatio'n. I

i This invention relates to the art ofmolding,and has reference to a novel methodof packing the sand in the flask containing the pattern. This operation,-so -Ear asl am aware, has heretofore invariably been per formed manually, requiring-the servicesof quite a number of men for large moldings and the expenditure of considerable time in packing eachflask.

According to myinvention the sand is causedto pack in the flask automatically, as it were, by being discharged from a point a considerable distance above andin line with the flask, and this distance is great enough (say from fifteen to thirty feet) to permit the sand thus discharged to acquire under the law of falling bodies eat momentum. The sand will thus strike the flask with, much force and instantly conform to the configurationof the pattern- N ot, only so,'but as succeeding quantities of sand fall into the flask the force of their fall will of course 7 causethe sand to pack therein, and,'in addi-v tion, their impact with the preceding body of sand already in the flask will cause such sand .to be packed more securely in the flask and to be pressed'uniformly .inand about the pattern therein. In actual experience I am able by the use ofmethod to pack very large flasks in a fraction of a minute, and a single operator can do this work and pack many more flasks per hour than is possible under the "old system with anynumber of workmen to a flask.

' The above expresses in a general way the nature and advantages of my invention and, so far as the theory involved is concerned, is correct. In practice, however, I have found that the mere discharge of the sand from an elevated position is not suflicient to cause it to pack in the flask, 'for under such condi- 5 tions the sand will fall in a shower-that is,

in a stream composed of loo se or disunited small unconnected bodies of sand will" never acquire the momentum necessary to cause the sand to pack in the flask, and the suclumps and individual grains and 'these ceedingindividual quantities of sand will not have weight or momentum suflicient'to materially increase the packing or compression of the sand already-in the flask-To successfully. make use of gravity in packing flasks, therefore, I have discovered and demonstrated that the sand must be discharged inseparate compressed or at leastcompact bodies of considerable magnitude, and such bodies falling as units through space acquire a high degree of momentum and'strike the flask with such force that in reality the sand caused to pack -much more firmly than.

when pressed in by hand in the ordinary way.

While the size of the wads or bodies of sand may vary, I have found it desirable to have however, not being my invention, but form ing part of a system of molding invented by others and embodied in an application 'for patent filed of even date herewith.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation and partly broken away of an apparatus by means of which my invention.

may be successfully practiced, and Fig. 2 is a viewof that part of the apparatus above' the floor-line and shown in front elevation;

Referring now to the drawings, the nu- Ineral l indicatesv the floor of the moldingroom 2, a track thereon; 3, a truck mounted to travel on said track, and 4 a flask inclbsing a pattern and mounted on said truck read to have the sand packed'therein. Beneat an opening in the floor is mounted a sand-receptacle 5, containin a hop er 6, the lower end of which is close by a eed-roller 7, lo- 'jchted, as shown, some distance above the bottom of the receptacle 5. At the'top of the hopper. 6 and immediately under the '1 part of the endlesse'levator, so that the buckopening in the floor is suitably mounted a screen 8, which is agitated by. means of-a rod 9 and crank or eccentric 10,1operated from any suit-able'source of power. Mounted-in the lower partiof the'receptacle are two sprocket-wheels 11, and mounted on rafters or other supports 12, located a suitable distance (say thirty feet) above the floor are two similar sprocket-wheels 13, and two sprocket-chains 14 pass over the respective setsof sprocket-wheels 11 13 and are con- Iiected to form an endless carrier by a series of L-shaped buckets 15, which are of a length -.eto,pass freely between the respective pairs of spr'o'cket-wheelsll and 12 and between two pairs of guide-pulleys 16 17, mounted in suitable hearings on the floor 1. The lower part of the receptacle 5 is provided with an inclined partition 18 to form a compartment 19 to receive the sand fed from the hopper by the feed-roller 7, and a curved depression 20 is provided-in the floor of the compartment '19 to accommodate the troughs in passing around the sprocket-wheels '11. 'In passing through the compartment 19 each bucket 15 will take up a quantity of sand, as will be understood. Saidbuckets then pass in successionlthrough a-trough 21, the outer edge of said buckets at each end resting upon rails 22,.provided on the bottom of the trough at opposite sides thereof, so that the outer ed e of each bucket will be maintained a slig it distance (sa'yan eighth of an inch) above the bottom of the trough'to allow the surplus Send carried out by the buckets or sand fall ingitherefrom to shde back into the compartment 19. p

'23 indicates a packing plate which is weighted at its outer end, as indicated at 24, and mounted on a rod 25, which is pivotally supported in bearings 26, mounted on the floor 1.

27 indicates a support for the packing- :plate.

AS. each bucket passes out of the trough 21 and beyond the guide-pulleys 16 its bottom assumes a substantially horizontal position,

- and immediately thereafter it comes in con- .tact with the under side of the packing-plate, which operates to press or pack the sand in the bucket. The packing-plate will be raised therefrom and fall down into the flask on the.

truck, as represented in the drawings. The guide-pulleys 16 and 17 are for the purpose of ,givmg the proper inclination to the lower ets willscoop "upthe sand as they pass through the compartment 19, and to the upper part, so that the'wads will be discharged outside the line of travel of the buckets. The endless carrier or elevator is driven from a pulley 28, secured on the end of the shaft 29, on which the sprocket-wheels13 are mounted.

, It will be observed that the bodies or wads of sand are discharged successively or inter- -mitten tly,' and this characteristic of the method is one which contributes in a large measure to its successful employment, as the operator by movingthe flask'in anappropriate manner can insure such wads falling into the flask in positions best suited to insure the firm packing of the sand about the pattern 4 the former to break and-scatter, and thus not.

pack so firmly, and this tendency is practically prevented by causing the wads to fall into position in the flask in the manner described.

I claimi 1. In the art of molding, the method-which consists in discharging into a flask a series of com act bodies of sand from a sufficientheig rt.ab ove the flask to cause the sand to pack therein by impact therewith due vtoits fall.

2. In the art ofmolding, the method which consists in discharging into a flask a series of lcompressed bodies of sand'from a sufficient 1e1 pac therein by impact herewith due to its fall.

3. In the art of molding, the method which consists in compressing a series of bodies of sandand discharging the same at a sufiicient hei ht above the flask to cause the sand to pafiik therein by impact therewith due to its 4. In the-art of molding, the method which consists in successively discharging separate bodies of sand in compact form into a-flask from a sufficient height above the flask to cause the sand to .pack therein by impact therewith due to its fall.

'5. In the art of molding, the method which consists in compressing the sand'into separate wads, and intermittently dischar ing said wads at a suflicient height abovea ask to cause the sand to pack therein by impact therewith and with preceding bodies of sand.

t above the flask to cause the sand to I IIO 6. In the art of molding, the method which consists in discharging into a flask a series of compact bodies of sand, Whose length is aproximately-equal-to the width of the flask to 5 e-packed, from a sufficient height above the flask to cause the sand to pack therein by impact therewith due to its fall.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two SLIbSCIlblllg wltnesses.

HENRY W. LENGFELDER. Witnesses:

Jon): E: MITCHELL, QLELL MELTON. 

